Oscar Wilde Bookshop

The bookshop's exterior

The Oscar Wilde Bookshop was the first bookstore devoted to gay and lesbian authors.[1][2] It was founded by Craig Rodwell in 1967 as the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop. Initially located at 291 Mercer Street,[3] it moved in 1973 to Christopher Street and Gay Street in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood.[4] It is named after author Oscar Wilde. The bookstore closed on March 29, 2009 citing the Great Recession and challenges from online bookstores.[5]

History

Despite a limited selection of materials when the bookstore was first established, Rodwell refused to stock pornography and instead favored literature by gay and lesbian authors.[6][7]

In March 1968 Rodwell began publishing a monthly newsletter from the bookshop, calling it HYMNAL.[8]

Early organizing meetings for the first Pride Parade in New York City were held at the bookshop in 1970.[9]

The store was managed by Calivin M. Lowery in the 1980s, who moved to San Francisco in 1987 to open his own bookstore there, The Love That Dares. Rodwell sold the bookshop in March 1993 to Bill Offenbaker, three months before Rodwell's death of stomach cancer.[10] In June 1996 Offenbaker sold the store to Larry Lingle. In January 2003 Lingle announced that the bookshop would close due to financial difficulties.[11] Deacon Maccubbin, owner of Lambda Rising bookstores, purchased the bookstore to prevent the historically significant bookstore from closing.[12][13] The Advocate story on the scheduled closing failed to note that the founder of the Oscar Wilde Bookshop was Craig Rodwell, prompting a letter of correction from his former partner and first manager of the bookshop, Fred Sargeant.[14] In 2006, the bookstore was purchased by longtime manager, Kim Brinster.

The bookstore closed on March 29, 2009, due to double-digit declines in sales caused by the economic crisis amid extreme competition with online book sellers, according to Brinster.[15] It was part of a spate of LGBT brick and mortar bookstores closures in the early 21st century, including Lambda Rising's Washington store and A Different Light in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Influence of Christian Science

Rodwell had been brought up in the Church of Christ, Scientist (Christian Science). The roots of Rodwell's belief in gay liberation arose from his daily readings in Christian Science which stressed "the dignity of all things human and the importance of making things true by believing in them." Using the Christian Science example of community outreach and stressing the availability of literature that contained positive images of gays and lesbians, Rodwell modeled the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop after a Christian Science reading room.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Craig Rodwell Papers, 1940–1993, New York Public Library (1999). Retrieved on September 23, 2008.
  2. ↑ Marotta, pg. 65
  3. ↑ Howard Smith's Scenes column, Village Voice, March 21, 1968, Vol. XIII, No. 23 (March 21, 1968 – republished April 19, 2010) Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Last Minute Oscar Wilde Reprieve" Gay City News. January 31 – February 6, 2003. Vol. 2 – Issue 5. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Venerable Gay Bookstore Will Close" The New York Times. February 3, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  6. ↑ Duberman, pg. 164–166
  7. ↑ Pobo, Kenneth. Journalism and Publishing, GLBTQ Encyclopedia (October 13, 2007). Retrieved on September 23, 2008.
  8. ↑ Howard Smith's Scenes column, Village Voice, March 21, 1968, Vol. XIII, No. 23 (March 21, 1968 – republished April 19, 2010) Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  9. ↑ Sargeant, Fred. "1970: A First-Person Account of the First Gay Pride March." The Village Voice. June 22, 2010. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
  10. ↑ Craig L. Rodwell, 52, Pioneer for Gay Rights New York Times obituaries (June 20, 1993). Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  11. ↑ Santor, Marc "Hard Words for a Bookshop: The End." New York Times. January 7, 2003. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
  12. ↑ Santora, Marc "Plot Twist for a Gay Bookstore: The Last Chapter Actually Isn't" New York Times February 4, 2003 Retrieved January 3, 2011.
  13. ↑ Neff, Lisa. The importance of being open: Oscar Wilde Bookshop purchased by Deacon Maccubbin of Lambda Rising, The Advocate (March 18, 2003). Retrieved on May 6, 2010.
  14. ↑ Fred Sargeant. "He Wrote The Book." Liberation Publications/The Advocate. April 1, 2003. Retrieved on May 6, 2010.
  15. ↑ Chan, Sewell. "Venerable Gay Bookstore Will Close." New York Times. February 3, 2009.
  16. ↑ Marotta, pg. 66n

Bibliography

External links

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